Page 37 of Behind the Shadows
“It was my desperate attempt to stay safe while daring to carve out a new life,” I confessed, inhaling a breath that trembled with my uncertainty.
“Ally, my sister, and I were just two girls. One moment we were lost in laughter and teenage chatter about boys with our friends, and the next, everything shattered—our world plunged into darkness. I only remember waking up in a cold, unforgiving cell, the bars mocking our freedom. We were either knocked out cold or drugged into submission. I can only assume it was the latter, as they forced pills down our throats daily to keep us pliant, to rob us of our will.”
I didn’t miss the slight wince Dad tried to hide.
“I’m not sure how much time slipped by, and for some reason our captors kept us together. Horrible things were done to us. We were sold like cattle, violated, and starved until our spirits were crushed. We became nothing more than rag dolls, used and discarded, minute by minute in a nightmare that never seemed to end.”
Dad remained silent, soaking up my words as I shared my shattered past. His eyes shimmered, wet with unshed tears, and the sight hollowed me out. Each confession seemed to carve into him, but he held the line, knuckles white against the armrest as though bracing for impact. My pain became his, and the devastation in his gaze was almost worse than reliving it. Yet he never faltered—he loved me too much to look away, too much to let me drown alone.
“I could hardly recognize Ally anymore; her once vibrant red hair had turned into lifeless strands, dull and nearly brown. Her skin sagged from her skeletal frame, and her once-bright blue eyes were now vacant and hollow. Sometimes, we didn’t even realize we shared the same room, as if we were ghosts haunting one another in a dazed, drug-induced fog.” I looked away, bombarded by the memories.
“But when the haze lifted, and clarity returned, Ally and I whispered our desperate plans for escape. We vowed to hide the pills in our pillows whenever we could fool them into believingwe’d swallowed them. We thought that was their mistake, giving us a dirty blanket and pillow with a case on it.” I paused, my heart shattering in sync with Dad’s silent tears. “I’m sorry, Dad. I can stop.”
He removed a tissue from the box on his desk. “No. Don’t you worry about me, honey. I’ll be fine. It just kills me that you and Ally lived … Is this the first time you’re telling someone what happened?”
I gasped for breath, my sobs clawing at my throat, rendering me speechless for what felt like an eternity. Even in therapy, I hadn’t disclosed as much as I had to my dad. Eventually, I managed to gather my composure enough to force out the words. “Yeah. It’s excruciating to talk about, but I have no choice.”
“I’m here to listen as long as you need me.” He nodded and encouraged me to continue.
Forcing myself to go on, I said, “There was no real way of marking time, but by our weight loss, I was thinking at least three months. Whenever I wondered if our parents were looking for us, I got sick to my stomach, like something was horribly wrong, and we were better off not seeing them again.”
His head jerked back. “Do you think they were the reason you and Ally were taken?”
“Yeah,” I whispered. “I don’t have proof, but my gut says I don’t need it. It’s why I never told you about them or had you look for them.”
A furious blush crept across Dad’s cheeks, a sign that his blood pressure was rising. “It’s a good thing I never met them, I would have made them pay for what they did to you girls.” His jaw clenched with his words.
“I learned that about you really fast. You’re a good man, not just when things are easy, but when it counts. Even when you have to get your hands dirty for the people you love. Ineeded that. Thank you.” I scanned the room, grounding myself in the reality that I was at home, no longer confined within the suffocating walls of a cell. Though my body had been liberated for years, my mind remained shackled. A part of me was still imprisoned there … haunting my dreams and occasionally manifesting as vivid hallucinations.
“Ally and I were waiting for our chance when they let both of us out of the cell at the same time. Sometimes they would sell us together to whatever man was into sisters. One guy liked us a lot and he visited often. We just had to try to get enough strength to overpower him. We hoarded what little food we were given, then tried to gauge when Mikael might visit soon. We ate as well as we could the week before, praying our plan would work and we could finally be free to start a new life together. We only dreamed of those days, and never spoke of it not happening. But the night before when we were told Mikael would be there the next day, a man that went by the name of Sal opened up our cell and drugged us. It wasn’t a pill this time though, it was a needle. I remember him taking our pillows with him. Somehow, he’d learned we’d skipped pills and hid them. We’d been caught.” My words trailed off, my grief consuming every part of me. “I woke up the next morning. Ally didn’t. She’d died in her sleep of an overdose.”
“Oh, honey. I’m so sorry. I wish I were there to hug you. We did hear you say her name, but we weren’t clear on who Ally was.” Dad sniffled through his tears, as mine flowed freely down my cheeks.
“I wish you were here too, but the reason I told you this is because there’s a man from that place. He’s found me. His name is Draco, and he’s dangerous.”
Dad visibly stiffened at my words. “Does he know where you are?” His tone was clipped, dangerous.
“Yes. I’m dealing with the situation, but you need to know he’s out there in case he shows up at your house or if he tries to plant himself in your lives. I should have told you, but I thought he might …”
I shook my head, furious with myself for pretending he would simply go away. “I thought he would lose interest, I guess.” It wasn’t the entire story, but I didn’t want to tell Dad about Kip. Not yet anyway. “It’s being handled, and I can’t tell you any more than that.”
Dad nodded slowly. “I understand. I won’t ask questions about that part of it even though I want to hunt the bastard down and deal with him on my terms.”
“Thank you. There’s more. Cooper, my ex-boyfriend, is in town as well. He showed up at my office yesterday, and it wasn’t a good visit.”
“Goddammit,” Dad swore. “Is he going to be a problem too? I can make some calls, Holland. I can handlethatproblem for you.”
Even though Dad hadn’t ever told me he had some connections, I’d put two and two together with little things he would say over the years.
“I need to take care of it, Dad. If I need you, I promise I’ll let you know. For now, I want you and Mom to stay safe. I’ll send you a picture of Draco. It’s an older picture I found online several years ago, but he hasn’t changed much.”
He leaned back in his chair. “I’ll need to tell your mother. I’m sorry, Holland, but she needs to be on alert.”
“I understand. That's why I wanted to tell you everything now.”
His shoulders tensed as he leaned forward again. “Why is Draco here? You’re a grown woman with a new life. Does he want to kidnap you again?”
“I don’t think so. He was always into younger …” I couldn’t finish my sentence, or I would throw up. Visions of the horrors I’d witnessed and lived through surged through me like a relentless tidal wave, clawing at the edges of my sanity, threatening to tear it apart. My palms grew slick while my chest tightened, and I gasped for air. I was torn between wanting to push through and wishing I could walk away from it all.
